The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but a bit of a slow read
Review: Being a huge fan of the other two Tom Wolfe books I've read, "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "A Man In Full", I was naturally curious to read Wolfe's first book. Unfortunately, I didn't find it to be as sharp or witty as his more recent work, possibly due to this one being non-fiction. I found it to essentially be a set of rambling observations about the state of life in America in the 60's. His choices of subject are clever and put a whole new spin on my view of the United States of the mid-twentieth century but on the whole I found large stretches of the book to be quite dry and, in my opinion, unnecessarily convoluted.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but a bit of a slow read
Review: Being a huge fan of the other two Tom Wolfe books I've read, "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and "A Man In Full", I was naturally curious to read Wolfe's first book. Unfortunately, I didn't find it to be as sharp or witty as his more recent work, possibly due to this one being non-fiction. I found it to essentially be a set of rambling observations about the state of life in America in the 60's. His choices of subject are clever and put a whole new spin on my view of the United States of the mid-twentieth century but on the whole I found large stretches of the book to be quite dry and, in my opinion, unnecessarily convoluted.

Rating:
Summary: This book may be better than I felt it to be
Review: These essays were the debut of a truly new voice. I not only did not know what to make of most of them when I first read them I really did not understand what the writer was getting at. But at the same time I saw they were filled with brilliant social observation, great wit, a certain humor and an effort at putting the phonys of this world down a peg. Like all really sharp social criticism these works have an element of cruelty in them. So let's say it is really a matter of taste that I did not like them so much. But as I said before it was clear to me then that the writer was tremendously inventive and that he was hitting many real targets in a strong and effective way.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I don't understand at all anyway.
Review: This book is , like, cool. There is a lot of words that really speak to me, man. yeah

Rating:
Summary: Get It If You Can Find It - Fantastic Read!
Review: Tom Wolfe began his career as a "New Journalist" with this book back in 1965, and when I discovered it some thirty years later I instantly became a fan of what this man is sellin'. The articles collected in here range a wide variety of topics, and even the duller pieces are punctuated with traces of brilliance.

The most memorable for me (seeing as I haven't read it in a few years) deal with some interesting and illuminating topics, both of their time and somehow relevant today:

The title piece dealing with custom cars (what's the hottest reality show staple besides weddings and home decor?)

Phil Spector's oddness (chilling in light of his recent legal troubles)

The beginnings of what would become NASCAR (now the biggest sport in the South)

Cassius Clay AKA Muhammed Ali (the role of the black athelete in American society is still being worked out)

Vegas' rise from the desert

There are countless others, products of their time and yet transcending eras to speak to us today. Again, not every piece works, but it's a credit to the book as a whole that I can't recall which ones were failures.

If you can find this, get it. You'll look at thinks differently afterwords...

Rating:
Summary: hysterically keen insight into American culture
Review: Wolfe is sharp in documenting the developments in America. Vivisecting society with language that is at once descriptive and critical, Wolfe pops inflated egos and elevates the seemingly shallow mod culture. Its a riot to see class, culture, celebrities, and heroes through his witty and keen observations. God Bless America!!!